Metal tie for railroads.



W. H. MORGAN.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 12, 1912. 1 ,04'7,432, Patented Dec. 17, 1912.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM HENRY MORGAN, OF ALLIANCE, OHIO.

METAL TIE FOR RAILROADS.

Application filed April 2, 1912, Serial No. 688,065.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. MORGAN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Alliance, in the county ofStark and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Metal Ties for Railroads; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in metal ties for railroads, andis designed particularly, as an improvement on the constructiondisclosed in application United States Patent Number 1,026,106, grantedMay 14:, 1912 to Walter V. Hartzell and myself.

The above patent discloses a series of metal ties, the ends of each ofwhich are bent into parallel planes to form carrying members for therails, and straight ties alternating with the bent ties, the said bentand straight ties having bottom flanges, flat or plain on the underside.

IVith ties having bottomflanges flat on the underside, there is atendency when tamping the ballast from either side of the tie, to driveor force it from under the other side, and the object of the presentinvention is to so construct the base flanges of the ties, that, thetendency will be for the ballast to pack under the ties, and myinvention therefore consists of a series of metal ties, the ends of eachof which are bent into parallel planes to form carrying members for therails, and a series of straight ties alternating with said bent ties,the said bent and straight ties having base flanges the sides of whichare inclined downwardly.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in perspective of asection of a track embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a view in crosssection of a tie and Fig. 3 a similar view of a modification.

1 represents a series of Z-shaped ties, each comprising parallel railsupporting members 2, and a body portion 3 connecting the railsupporting members, all of said parts being integral, and 4 are straightties arranged alternately between the Z-shaped ties, and projecting asshown, beyond the rail supporting members of the latter. Both thestraight and Z-shaped ties are I-shape Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1'7, 1912.

Renewed November 12, 1912. Serial No. 731,036.

in cross section, with the base flanges 5 wider than the top flanges 6.These base flanges of the straight ties, and also of the parallel railsupporting members, and the body of the Z-shaped ties, are inclineddownwardly from the web or center of the tie, as shown in Fig. 2, orthey may be curved or concave, as shown in Fig. 3, and are partly cutaway or of reduced width at the bends of the Z-shaped ties, so as tofacilitate the bending. These ties are preferably made from old railroad rails, the base flange of the rail section, forming the top flange6 of the tie, and the head of the rail section flattened out and bent orcurved downwardly as shown, to form the wider base flange of the tie,but they can of course be made direct from new material.

In the construction disclosed in the patent above referred to the baseflanges of the straight and Z-shaped ties are flat, and as they arecomparatively smooth, it has been found, that, in tamping, particularlyin loose ballast, the tendency is for the tamping tool to drive or forcethe ballast from under the tie, and also for the weight of the train towork the broken stone or gravel out at the sides from under the baseflange. By bending or curving the sides of the base flange downwardly, ahousing is formed under the ties, into which the ballast packs, both intamping and also under the weight of the load borne by the rails. Intamping, it will be seen that the ballast will be driven up to thehighest point under the base flange of the rails, and under the weighton the rails it will be moved toward the center by the inclined planes,hence there is no tendency whatsoever for the ballast, after it has beenproperly tamped, to shift or move from under the rails. Again, byproviding both the Z-shaped and straight ties with downwardlyinclined'base flanges, the track will be held against the possibility ofany endwise, lateral, or angular creeping. The straight ties willprevent endwise creeping, the parallel members of the Z-shaped ties willprevent any movement in the direction of the length of the straightties, while the bodies of the Z-shaped ties prevent any oblique orangular movement.

It is evident that many slight changes might be resorted to in therelative arrangement of parts shown and described without departing fromthe spirit and scope of my invention. Hence I would have it understoodthat I do not wish to confine myself to the exact construction andarrangement of parts shown and described, but

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by LettersPatent, is 2- 1. The combination of a series of metalties, the ends of each of which are bent into parallel planes to formcarrying members for the rails, and straight ties alternating with theZ-shaped ties, the said bent and straight ties having downwardlyinclined base flanges.

2. The combination of a series of metal ties the ends of each of whichare bent into parallel planes to form carrying members for the rails andstraight ties alternating with the Z-shaped ties and projecting at bothsides beyond the carrying members of the bent ties, the said bent andstraight ties having base flanges which incline downwardly so as to forma housing under same for the ballast.

3. The combination of a series of Z-shaped metal ties, the parallel endsof which form the rail supports and straight ties alternating with theZ-shaped ties, the said straight and Z-shaped ties having downwardlyinclined base flanges.

. 4. The combination of a series of Z-shaped metal ties, the parallelends of which form the rail supports, and straight ties alternating withthe Z-shaped ties and projecting at the sides of'the rails beyond saidZ-shaped ties, the base flanges of the Z-shape and straight ties beingdownwardly inclined.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM HENRY MORGAN.

WVitnesses:

J. H. LLOYD, N. C. FETTERs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained. for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

